Saturday, March 10, 2012

Epic Fail: My rendezvous with Marley

I went ballistic when Ate Fred told me about a Bob Marley photo exhibit that kicked off about a week ago here in Dubai. Gulf photo plus - the hub of a dynamic community of photographers in the Middle East brought acclaimed American photo journalist David Burnettin Dubaifor adisplay of his Bob Marley photos and a series of workshops. Burnett began working as a freelance photographer for Life and Time magazines allowing him to travel extensively and capture timeless moments for almost 4 centuries now. He was named one of the "100 Most Important People in Photography" by the American Photo magazine.

The show displays photos he incorporated in his first book, Soul Rebel: An Intimate Portrait ofBob Marley in Jamaica andBeyond.It features the Marley's music and his contemporaries, photographed first in Jamaica in 1976, then during his European tour spring of 1977. He said a lot of interesting things during his shoot with Bob in Kingston. In an interview with The New York Times (2009) I chanced upon a lot of engaging details and for some reason I was fixated on this question.

Q. Did you get a contact high when you were with Bob Marley?

A. Well, I will say this: When you’re at the home of Bob Marley and he lights up a spliff, because that’s what he does, and he passes it around — your job is to be a very good guest. And I was a very good guest. I’m not sure my pictures got any better, but there’s always that hope.

Last Thursday I called GPP to inquire about the exhibit timings and I specifically asked if they were open on Fridays and the person I spoke with said yes. So I invited my friends to come spend a few hours with me and Bob. Yesterday we drove all the way to Al Quoz Industrial Area I in high spirits, only to find out they were closed. Sobrang bad trip lang. Good thing the office was built with glass doors so we were able to get a sneak peek (literally) of Burnett's works.

Bob Marley

Rach trying to break the door, I mean catch a glimpse. =D

Viva Santo Tomas! =D

Ang effort nito pagpipicture ni Chat, ahahaha.

Forcing a smile. Hay.

I love this.

...and this, lahat naman ata eh. =D

Closed on Fridays and Saturdays. TSK.

Scribbling my thoughts.

Failed.

Glass etching

Makapagpa-picture na nga lang. Hahahaha.

WIM that day:

Hendrix shirt from my friend Puroy

H&M tights

Doc Marten's boots

Zara satchel

Trying to change my mood

Feeling unaffected (chos, apektado ako no!), we thought of various ways to improve our day. We went to church, window shopping (kuno, pero d pa rin napigilan mamili), made a video for a friend (if you're reading this, you owe us big time, LOL!), grocery shopping and for a change we stayed outdoors to enjoy the final days of the cold weather. Here are some photos we took, camwhoring galore ang peg.

I'm still hoping to get a glance of this rare exhibition. I'd try to make time for it. However, this seems impossible to do considering they're open on weekdays and office hours. Bahala na si Batman. So for enthusiasts who might want to drop by, check out the details below.

"Bob Marley was born in the countryside up in Nine Mile but at an early age lived in Kingston. And Kingston was then — and still is — a pretty tough town and very polarized politically. Out of that turmoil and street violence came an amazing array of very poetic and sensitive music. He was a gifted poet who really understood the most basic things about human interaction. And this is what you feel in his songs." - David Burnett